Trigger Happy
by IrishDipstick
Summary: Taylor and Jason try a spot of target practice. Warning may contain spanking of a minor.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.

**Chapter 1**

Taylor stood at the living room window, watching the raindrops trickle erratically down the glass. Saturday and rain, two words that don't go well together. Jason was lying sprawled out on the couch, Taylor's PSP in his hands. His parents were out for the day, so Gibbs had been drafted in to 'baby sit', although he'd disappeared into the basemen about half an hour ago. Hearing Jason swear she turned just in time to catch the game.

"Your turn." He stood up and wandered around the room as Taylor took his place on the sofa. "There's gotta be something better we can do."

"Like what?" She didn't take her eyes from the small screen.

"What's in this?"

Quickly glancing up, she watched as he punched in numbers on the small pistol safe.

"Dad's gun."

"Doesn't he trust you or something? Bet you've never even fired it!"

"So? You're gonna tell me you can shoot?" Pausing the game she sat up, ready for an argument. "Bet your dad hasn't even got a gun!"

"Yeah he does."

"Water pistols don't count."

"Funny." He was still trying to guess the code, hitting random numbers. "Least he doesn't keep it locked up like this."

"That's the way you're supposed to keep it you muppet."

"Only if you're around. My dad keeps his hidden in the closet."

"And you've fired it?" Taylor reckoned he was talking crap.

"Loads of times."

"You're lying!"

"I have."

"Ok then, show me the gun." Taylor thought he would back down, but instead he pulled his house key out of a pocket.

"Come on then."

Making sure Gibbs was still in the basement they snuck across the road to Jason's house.

*******

Taylor followed Jason up to his parents bedroom. He made a beeline to the closet, reaching up to the top shelf. At first he couldn't find it, and Taylor was just about to start winding him up, when he turned round and grinned at her. When he pulled his hand back down he was clutching a matt black pistol.

"See."

Taking a few steps closer she looked at the gun but didn't touch it.

"That's not much of a gun, it's only a revolver."

"You're just jealous." Jason was disappointed that she wasn't impressed.

"Is it loaded?"

"Course it is, it's not much good without bullets."

"If you're allowed to shoot it, why's it hidden up there?"

He shrugged, "In case someone steals it."

"Put it back." Taylor was starting to feel a little uneasy now.

"Ohhhh, you scared?"

"No, but we'd better get back before my dad figures we're missing."

Taking one last look at the pistol he slipped it back into it's hiding place.

"You really gotta learn to chill."

Choosing to ignore that comment, Taylor pulled up the hood of her sweatshirt before making the short dash home.

*******

Jason spent the rest of the afternoon gloating and Taylor was actually relieved when his mom and dad arrived home. Truth be told she was actually a little jealous. She wasn't sure now if he had been lying, when he had told her he had been allowed to shoot. Before today she hadn't given the pistol safe or what was in it much thought, it was just something that had always been there. Now she was curious. Taylor couldn't get the idea out of her head that maybe the code for the safe was the same number that the security system had been. But there was no way she was gonna try it, she wasn't that stupid, Taylor had a good idea what her dad's reaction would be. Deep in thought she didn't realise her father had entered the room.

"You ready?"

Taylor jumped at the sound of his voice, feeling a little guilty about what she had been thinking about.

"Yep." She followed him out to the car. They were going to another hockey game. Patricia had never been to one before, which didn't surprise Taylor, she didn't exactly strike her as the hockey, or even a sports type.

Boy was she wrong. Normally it would have been Taylor making all the noise during the fights, but this time she didn't even get a look in. Patricia was awesome and some of her outbursts left Taylor in fits of giggles. Judging by some of the suggestions she yelled at the players, that was one woman you didn't want to piss off. It was a really good night, and by the time Taylor crawled into bed she had forgotten all about Jason and the gun.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.

**Chapter 2**

Taylor was just finishing the washing up after breakfast when Jason appeared at the back door.

"Where's your dad?" He was looking around nervously.

"Upstairs. Why?"

Jason lifted up the front of his jacket, and sweat shirt to reveal the revolver tucked into the waist band of his pants.

"Are you nuts?"

He shook his head and grinned at her. "You wanna try?"

Taylor looked over her shoulder to check they were alone before answering. "Yeah, but where?"

"I've already thought of that. Go see if your dad will let you go to the skate park." he said with a wink. "I'll wait for you out front."

Drying her hands she went in search of her dad. Taylor didn't have to go far, in her haste she ran slap bang into him at the bottom of the stairs.

"Easy! What's the rush?"

"Can I go to the skate park with Jason?"

For one long moment she thought he was gonna say no.

"Just make sure you're back for lunch."

"I will." Turning quickly she opened the front door.

"Taylor?"

"Huh?" she spun round to face him again.

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

"What?"

Her father nodded towards her feet. "Your skates?"

"Oh, yeah, right." Ducking past him she went to fetch her rollerblades from her room. A few seconds later she was back at the front door again.

This time when she tried to leave her dad stepped in front of her, arms folded. "Where's your helmet?"

"Aw come on, no one wears them!"

"You do, unless you want to stay here."

After another trip upstairs, Taylor was finally ready to go, skates under one arm, helmet hanging from the other.

"Can I go now?"

Gibbs stepped out of her way. "Behave yourself, and be careful."

"Yeah dad."

The front door closed behind her and she was free.

*******

Jason was waiting at the bottom of his drive, he was so excited he was finding it difficult to stand still. "Get your skateboard you idiot."

"But we're not going …."

Taylor interrupted him "It has to look as if we are."

"Ok, good move."

She sat down on the low wall to wait for him. Taylor wasn't convinced this was a good idea, and became even more nervous when she spotted her dad watching from one of the upstairs windows.

Jason reappeared complete with board and helmet. "Come on, lets get out of here."

"You sure this is a good idea?" she asked as she stood up.

"Don't chicken out now!"

"I'm not. I just wanna make sure we don't get caught."

"We won't. Now are you comin' or not?" Jason began walking.

Taylor took another glance across the road to see if her father was still watching. He was. Trying not to look guilty, she gave him a quick wave before chasing after Jason.

*******

Gibbs watched from the window as his daughter crossed the road. His gut was telling him something was wrong. The feeling only grew as Jason had to go back into his house to collect his skateboard. Both of them had been heading to the skate park without any wheels, and Taylor was looked guilty as hell when she was waiting for Jason. Oh yeah, they were up to something, now he just had to figure out what.

*******

"How much further do we have to go? Taylor was fed up now After yesterday's rain her sneakers were sinking into the mud, and she was finding it difficult to keep up with Jason's longer legs as they hiked through the woods. Jason stopped and waited for Taylor to catch up. They were standing at the edge of a clearing. Dumping their skating gear, Jason pulled out the gun. Making sure she stayed behind him she waited for him to fire. He aimed towards a fallen tree and pulled the trigger.

Taylor jumped. That was one loud bang. She went with Jason to examine the tree trunk. When they located the bullet hole he let out a loud whoop, before handing her the gun.

"Your turn."

It was a lot heavier than she thought it would be. Raising it with both hands Taylor licked her lips nervously before pointing it towards the tree. It was difficult to pull the trigger, but when she did a chunk of wood exploded from the trunk.

"Not bad for a first go."

Grinning she passed the pistol back to Jason. "Think we need a smaller target!"

It wasn't long before they'd run out of bullets and the tree was full of holes. Grabbing their gear they started the long walk back home.

"Isn't your dad gonna miss the bullets?" Taylor had been running through the morning's events in her head, making sure there were no major flaws.

"No he has so many boxes of ammunition stashed in the closet there's no way the odd box would be missed. All I have to do is reload when I put the gun back.

"Does that mean we can do it again?"

"Oh yeah, and maybe sometime we could try your dad's, if you ever figure out the combination."

She gave him a friendly shove. "Huh. There's a snowball's chance in hell of that happening"

*******

Gibbs was on his way to pick up Patricia. He checked the clock on the dash, there was just enough time to check on Taylor. Pulling the car up beside the park he scanned the crowd of kids, trying to pick out his daughter. There was no sign of her, or Jason. No matter what his gut was telling him, he wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, I mean she could even be on her way home now. If she wasn't there by the time he got back, Taylor would have some explaining to do. Starting the car again he pulled away from the kerb, hoping the rest of the day would go smoothly.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.

**Chapter 3**

Taylor left Jason at the bottom of his drive. He didn't seem in the least bit worried about putting the gun back. Taylor was just relieved she didn't have to do it. She made her way along the side of the house and in through the back door. Patricia was sitting at the table drinking coffee.

"FREEZE!" Gibbs was standing at the sink.

Taylor froze. "What'd I do?"

"Shoes."

She looked down at her mud covered feet before reversing back out the door and kicking them off.

"How did he skating go?" Patricia asked.

"Okay."

"You didn't fall then?"

"Nope."

Taylor had almost made it through the kitchen when her dad asked another question.

"Where'd the mud come from?" he nodded at the mud splattered on her jeans.

Taylor looked down at her pants. "We, ah, took a short cut."

"Uh huh."

"I'll go change." Not meeting his eye, she skirted past him and up the stairs to her room.

*******

Gibbs refilled his mug and sat down beside Patricia. "Do you think she's telling the truth?"

"I'm not sure. You don't think she went skating?"

He shook his head before taking another sip of his coffee. "I think she's up to something. I just don't know what." They both looked up when Taylor dropped her skates upstairs with a loud clatter. "But I'm gonna find out."

"How do you plan on doing that?"

"I have no idea yet. I can tell when Taylor's lying, but it's a whole different ball game trying to get the truth out of her."

Patricia smiled. "I can believe that."

He smiled back. "Yeah, I'm just gonna have to keep a close eye on her until I figure out what's going on."

*******

Taylor sat down on her bed. She wasn't ready to go back downstairs yet. Maybe sneaking off with Jason and his gun hadn't been such a good idea, although she had to admit she'd really enjoyed herself. It had been one hell of an adrenalin rush, even though they'd just been shooting at a tree. Unfortunately now she had this really nasty feeling her dad knew. Not about the gun, if he'd figured that part out, he would have pounced as soon as she'd walked in and she'd be in a world of hurt by now. But he knew she hadn't been at the skate park. She was gonna have to play it really cool, and just hope she didn't make him any more suspicious. At least Patricia was there to distract him. Trying to convince herself she was innocent, Taylor took a deep breath and went downstairs to see what was going on. She could still hear them chatting in the kitchen, so Taylor decided the living room would be a safer bet. Picking up the TV remote she stretched out on the couch and channel surfed.

*******

"You not gonna give us a hand?"

At least he didn't sound mad. Groaning, Taylor rolled off the couch and followed the voice into the kitchen.

"You can help Patricia with the salad."

Maybe she'd been a little paranoid earlier. He seemed to have forgotten about the mud. She relaxed a little. "Is Abby coming?"

"Should be here any minute. Tony's coming too, now quit talking and start washing." He pointed towards a pile of tomatoes.

"Anyone ever tell you you're a slave driver."

"All the time."

Taylor was drying her hands when someone grabbed her from behind and started tickling her.

Dropping the towel she giggled and tried to wriggle away. "Tony, pack it in!"

He let her go. "You been staying out of trouble?"

"Course I have." Taylor crossed her arms and glared at him. "Have you?"

" I don't know what you mean, I'm never in trouble." He grinned, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a DVD case. " Got a real classic for this afternoon if you want to watch. E.T."

"E.T. is a classic?"

Tony tried to look offended. "Who's the movie expert here?"

"You are Tony." Taking the DVD off him she sat down at the table to read the back of the box.

*******

Lunch was better than she had expected. Maybe it was just the guilt wearing off, but Taylor was starting to think she had been worrying about nothing. Maybe she was getting better at lying, I mean with all the practice she'd had, she was bound to get away with it sometime. Taylor glanced at her father again. He was listening intently to Abby who was rambling on about some new piece of equipment for her lab. Yep, if he had suspected she'd been lying he would have kicked off earlier. He hadn't even given her that look she really hated, the one that made her squirm. She was home free, and hopefully Jason was too.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.

**Chapter 4**

In the days that followed, Taylor became a lot more confident. She'd even thrown in a few experimental lies just to test her new found ability. Her father hadn't picked up on any of them. By Friday night she was just downright smug. The world was her oyster, well not quite the world, but she was fairly certain their plans for tomorrow would go undetected again. Jason had been stashing bullets all week, making sure they would have a good supply this time. Even though she was too excited to sleep, Taylor switched off her small lamp and closed her eyes. Tomorrow was gonna be one hell of a day.

*******

Gibbs breathed a sigh of relief when Taylor went to bed. He'd been fighting to keep his temper in check all day. His daughter had no idea the fine line she'd been walking the last few days. If it hadn't been for the little voice, now screaming in his head that something was wrong, Taylor wouldn't have been going to bed quite so happy. Patricia came back into the room with two glasses of bourbon, and handed him one before sitting down beside him. He put his arm around her and pulled her closer before taking a sip.

"Still worried?"

"Uh huh." he took another drink, "It's pretty obvious she has something planned for tomorrow."

"Can't help feeling a little sorry for her."

Gibbs almost choked on his drink. "Don't let Taylor fool you, she doesn't do anything by halves. Maybe you should reserve your sympathy vote until we find out what's going on."

Patricia nudged him with her elbow. "That's not what I meant. It's just that Taylor has absolutely no idea you're on to her."

"And if she's innocent she won't have anything to worry about."

"I know. I guess I'm just hoping she's not in trouble, and that famous gut Tony keeps talking about is wrong."

"Me too." He reached for his cell phone. "But just in case, I'll see if Tony's free tomorrow."

*******

Taylor was up early the next morning, and showed up for her breakfast complete with skates and helmet. Her dad was already at the table, probably on his second or third coffee. Lowering his newspaper, he watched as she poured cereal into a bowl, and sat down opposite him.

"Where's Patricia?"

"Shower." He nodded towards her skates. "You going somewhere?"

She tried to hide the wave of panic. What was she going to do if she wasn't allowed to go?

Swallowing a mouthful of Rice Krispies she replied, "Skate park."

"On your own?

"No, Jason's going."

He didn't say anything for a few moments. "You need a ride?"

Taylor relaxed. "Nope, we're good."

"Okay." Standing up, he set his cup in the sink and ruffled her hair as he walked past . "Stay out of trouble."

Jason was waiting for her, complete with skateboard. This time however he was wearing a backpack.

"You get it?" she whispered.

"Course I did, keep tellin' you it's easy." He grinned at her. "Let's get out of here, we have a lot of bullets to get through today."

Neither of them spotted Tony sitting in the dark blue car at the end of the road.

*******

Taylor must have stopped and looked around at least half a dozen times as they made their way to the woods. For some reason she couldn't shake the feeling she was being watched. Each time, Jason just told her to stop being paranoid, and pulled her on again. As they made their way through the trees Taylor had to force herself to stop looking back. Instead she focused on Jason's excited chatter."

"I printed out some targets that we can fix on a tree, so now we'll see who's the better shot."

"I already know I'm better than you Jason, you close your eyes when you pull the trigger."

"Do not!"

"Wanna bet?"

"Okay, I'll admit it, maybe I do close my eyes now and again, but at least I'll get the first go." Shoving her into the mud at the side of the trail he ran towards the clearing.

"That was so not fair!" she yelled after him as she tried to escape from the ankle deep sludge that was trying to suck her sneakers up.

When she eventually caught up with him he had just finished attaching a sheet of paper, with circles marked on it, to the trunk of a tree.

"Think you're being optimistic. The paper's kinda small, maybe you should take a few shots at that first." Taylor pointed towards the large fallen tree they'd aimed at before.

"No way. It'll be more interesting like this."

"Suit yourself, but if you miss it's my turn."

Nodding, he knelt down and took the pistol from his bag. It was already loaded. Jason scraped a line in the dirt with his foot.

"We've gotta fire from here, and if it's too easy we'll move it further back."

"If you miss are you gonna move it closer?

Lifting the gun he took aim. "I'm not gonna miss." Jason replied confidently, just before he pulled the trigger. A piece of bark flew away from a tree, slightly behind and to the side of their target one.

Blushing, Jason handed the gun to Taylor.

"Maybe you should move the target to the tree you hit."

"Funny, just shoot!"

"Now keep watchin' you might just pick up a few tips." Raising the pistol she aimed at the centre of the target and squeezed the trigger.

*******

At the sound of the gun shot Gibbs thought his heart had stopped. He was absolutely terrified. He started to run in the direction of the shot, Tony at his heels, not knowing what they were actually going to do when they got there. Neither himself nor Tony were armed. They only slowed down when they realised there was a clearing up ahead. Splitting up, Tony veered off to the right, while Gibbs took the left. They heard the second shot ring out just as they had both reached the edge of the trees. From his position Gibbs could see his daughter standing with her back to him, the gun clearly visible in her hand. Jason was searching through his bag and didn't see Tony step out from the trees. Taylor did though. She froze.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.**

**Chapter 5**

"Tony wh….what…"

Tony walked towards her, stopping a few feet away, then held out his hand. "Give me the gun."

Taylor looked down at the revolver, then back to Tony. The shock of seeing him had completely thrown her. She shook her head and took a step back, then scanned the trees where Tony had appeared from. "Where's…."

He didn't let her finish. "Taylor, give me the gun."

"You followed us!" She glanced towards Jason who was now sitting on the ground hugging his backpack. "I told you we were being watched!"

"GUN. NOW!" He spat out.

Tony's element of surprise was starting to wear off now. "No. It's not yours!" Unconsciously she tightened her grip on the gun and formed a fist with her other hand.

Tony noticed her finger tensing on the trigger and slowly moved away from her.

"You're going to have to put it down sometime."

"Just leave us alone Tony!" She was yelling at him now.

"Can't do that."

"Why not? Don't you wanna run off and tell my dad?"

"He doesn't have to."

Taylor spun round when she heard the low, dangerous voice. Her father was standing about ten feet away.

"Set the gun down Taylor."

Looking at the ground in front of her, she shook her head. Taylor was afraid of what would happen when she didn't have the gun anymore.

Her dad didn't say anything more, but when she glanced up again he was right in front of her. She hated the way he could do that.

"Taylor." He held said softly, and held his hand out.

She looked up at him, blinking away the tears that were rapidly building up, and gently placed the revolver onto his outstretched hand.

Then she bolted.

*******

Taylor made it the whole way across the clearing before Tony caught up with her and grabbed the back of her sweatshirt. She turned to kick him, but he kept her out at arms length.

"Not this time you don't!" He marched her back to Gibbs.

She didn't look up to see how angry her father was, or fight him when he grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the fallen tree they'd uses as a target the week before. Taylor knew exactly what he was gonna do even before he sat down and hauled her over his knee. He only landed six swats to the seat of her pants, but boy did they sting. When he put her back on her feet again he pulled her close enough to whisper into her ear.

"You run again and I'm not gonna care that Jason's here."

Swallowing hard Taylor rubbed her butt as she followed him back over to Jason and Tony.

No one spoke as they made their way back to the road, where both Tony and Gibbs had parked their cars. Her dad held the rear door open while both she and her partner in crime slid in. When the door slammed shut Jason turned and looked at her.

"You're dad's really mad isn't he?"

"Ya think Einstein?"

"Did it hurt?"

"What?"

"You know, when your dad spanked you."

There went the little bit of hope she had, that he hadn't been watching. "Yeah." Taylor stared at him. "Aren't you worried about what your dad's gonna do?"

Jason looked towards Gibbs before he answered. "I am now."

*******

As soon as they pulled up in the drive Patricia appeared in the doorway. Without waiting to be told Taylor stuck her hands in her pockets and walked towards Patricia, slipping guiltily past her into the house and on up the stairs to her bedroom. She had just pulled off her sweatshirt and thrown her self down on the bed when Patricia appeared.

"Are you okay?" She sat down on the bed beside her.

Taylor sighed. "Yeah"

"Your dad doesn't look very happy."

"He's not."

"What were you two up to?"

Taylor sat up, crossing her legs and shrugged. "Just a bit of target practice."

"Target practice with what?"

Hanging her head she mumbled her answer. " Jason's dad's gun."

When Patricia didn't say anything Taylor risked a peek up at her. She looked horrified.

"What? We didn't shoot anyone, just a few trees!" It was as good a time as any to test her defence.

Patricia stood up and frowned down at her. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?

"But.."

"But what? It only takes one mistake and you could have been hurt or killed!"

Okay, her defence wasn't having the desired effect, Patricia was almost shouting now.

Standing up and putting her hands on her hips, Taylor tried to justify her actions.

"I didn't get hurt, and neither did Jason. You're as bad as my dad, you're both just overreacting. It's no big deal!"

"No big deal? You think something that puts you in danger is no big deal?" Patricia grabbed Taylor's arm, and pulled her close enough to smack her backside twice.

"Ow! That hurt!" Flinging her hand back to intercept any more swats, she glared up at her.

"It hurt? How much do you think a bullet would hurt?" Patricia looked as if she was about to cry.

She hung her head, and looked at the floor. "I'm sorry. We didn't think about that." It was never good when guilt kicked in, and Taylor quickly brushed away a tear with the back of her hand.

Patricia knelt down in front of her and gently wiped a stray tear away with her thumb. "Your dad was right, you don't do anything by halves."


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.**

**Chapter 6**

When Patricia left her alone Taylor moved over to her window to watch for her dad. She'd been standing there for a long time, almost an hour, before she saw him emerge from Jason's house. He still looked pissed. She'd really screwed up. Again. The only upside Taylor could think of, was that at least it hadn't been her dad's gun. It wasn't much to cling to, but it was all she had. Cringing when the front door slammed, she sat down on the bed again and waited. After thirty minutes Taylor was still waiting, and feeling more and more guilty by the minute. All she wanted now was to get this over with.

*******

"GET DOWN HERE!" Assuming that was her inevitable summons Taylor took a few deep breaths, and went downstairs to face the music.

She hesitated in the doorway. Her dad was already pacing up and down in front of the fireplace. She had hoped he would have been a bit calmer by now.

"What are you waiting for? Over here!" he pointed to the centre of the floor.

She shuffled towards the spot, keeping a wary eye on him.

He started to pace again, only this time he was behind her. That made her nervous.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU TWO THINKING?"

Taylor focused on the floor and waited for his rant to continue.

"ANSWER ME!"

"Will you lighten up, you'd think we shot someone!" That's not what she meant to say, but she could never think straight when he was behind her like that. Taylor tensed up, he'd stopped pacing.

She found herself being spun round to face him.

"Guns are NOT toys, and accidents happen. What if someone had been out walking, and you shot them by mistake? Or if either one of you took a bullet?"

"We didn't, and anyway we were shooting at a tree, the bullet's not gonna go through that."

"You could have missed!"

Taylor shook her head and folded her arms defensively. "It was a big tree!"

Her father leaned down and looked at her right in the eye. "So you think there was nothing wrong with what you did?"

"Didn't say that. We just thought about the good bits, not what might go wrong."

"And you only figured this out now?"

"No, Patricia told me."

He straightened up again. "Whose idea was it?"

Taylor looked off to the side and tried to ignore the question.

"Hey! Look at me!"

Reluctantly she looked up at him.

"Whose?"

"Jason's." Taylor felt like a traitor as she whispered his name.

"Do you know the code for the gun safe?"

"No." Right now she was really glad she didn't know it.

"Are you sure?"

"I don't know it!"

"Did you try to open it?"

"No. I'm not suicidal!"

"But you thought it was okay to take Jason's dads?"

"I didn't take it. Jason did."

"I'll ask that again. Do you think it was okay for Jason to take the gun?"

"No."

"Then why did you go along with it?"

Taylor thought for a moment. "I don't know.."

"Think harder."

"I don't…….." Then she realised what he was getting at. "Maybe cause Jason was the one who was gonna get caught takin' the gun, not me."

"Does that mean you think Jason's more to blame for this mess than you?"

She looked up at him hopefully. "Do you?"

"Nope." He shook his head as he spoke. "You're both equally to blame."

"Figures."

"What about the lies you told?"

"What…. Oh…… the skate park." Taylor realised now she wasn't gonna get away with anything, and began to get annoyed. "I didn't have a choice, what was I supposed to tell you? Hey dad, we're just heading up to the woods, got any spare bullets cause they'd come in real handy?" She was yelling by the time she'd finished her sentence.

Gibbs grabbed the front of her shirt and pulled her close, bending down until his face was inches from hers. "Don't you think you're in enough trouble without the attitude?"

Her mouth suddenly went dry. "Sorry." It was only a whisper, but it must have been good enough. He released her and walked over to the window. Standing with his back to her he looked over towards Jason's house.

"Was Jason's dad mad?"

"What do you think?"

"Probably."

"Uh huh."

"What'd he do to Jason?"

"Same thing I'm gonna do to you."

Taylor heard the all too familiar metallic jingle and watched as the belt slid through the loops on the back of her dad's jeans. When he turned to face her again he was holding it doubled up in his right hand.

She watched as he glanced round the room before walking towards her. Taylor had to force herself to stay where she was and not run. Being brave wasn't easy and what he was holding certainly didn't help.

Walking past her he stopped at the coffee table. "Come here."

Not taking her eyes off the belt, she went and stood beside him.

"Drop the jeans."

"Can't…"

He didn't let her finish. "Do it."

Slowly Taylor unbuttoned her pants and let them fall to her knees.

Gibbs propped his foot up on the low table and lifted Taylor, positioning her over his knee, making sure her feet were just off the floor. He knew from previous experience if her feet managed to get any sort of traction she'd be out of there in a heartbeat.

Taylor grabbed a hold of his leg to steady herself, closed her eyes and tried to convince herself she was somewhere else.

*******

The line of fire that erupted across her backside brought her back to reality pretty damn quickly. She yelped loudly and tried to push herself off his knee, but her dad had her securely pinned down. By the time Taylor realised she wasn't going anywhere, the belt struck her again, just below the first. It was hard enough to make her eyes water. The third had her crying, but the licks kept coming at a steady pace. Then, just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, her father aimed lower, where there was no underwear to provide any protection. It only took a few swats to that sensitive area before Taylor broke into sobs.

Gibbs lifted his daughter onto her feet again, and sat down on the coffee table. He waited until Taylor fixed her pants, then pulled her close, holding her while she calmed down.

"You're grounded for a month. The only time you're going to leave this house is when you're going to school. When school's out, Patricia's going to bring you home. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir."

"When you're older I'll teach you how to use a pistol safely, but I want you to promise me you won't so much as touch another gun until then."

Taylor lifted her head up from where she'd been leaning against him, and ran her arm across her eyes to remove the last of her tears.

"I won't, I promise."

"Good."

Taylor seemed content to stay where she was, so Gibbs held her silently for a few minutes.

"Dad?" She looked up at her father. "How old is older?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.**

**Chapter 7**

Taylor was lying face down on the couch channel hopping. Her dad was sitting in the chair across from her trying to read.

Sighing, he lowered his book. "Will you pick something to watch?

"There's nothin' on."

"Then switch it off and find something else to do."

That sounded a bit drastic to Taylor so she settled on an old black and white movie.

"You haven't forgotten Tony's watching you tonight."

She had, and after this morning Taylor wasn't too keen on the idea.

"Do you think he'll still be mad at me?"

Closing the book, her father looked over at her. "Why do you think he's angry?"

"He thinks I was gonna shoot him."

"You think that's why he was afraid?"

Taylor nodded.

"Tony's been shot at plenty of times, he was afraid of you hurting yourself."

"You sure about that?"

He raised his eyebrow but said nothing.

"That's okay then." Relieved, she turned her attention back to the movie.

Gibbs lifted his book again before smiling to himself. At least Taylor didn't look on Tony as a push over anymore, not after what happened the last time.

*******

The key turning in the front door announced Patricia's arrival. Standing in the doorway she looked from one to the other.

"You're both still in one piece then?

"Just about." Gibbs patted the arm of the chair, and Patricia sat down beside him.

Taylor turned round and grinned at her. "I'm gonna learn how to shoot."

Patricia glared down at Gibbs.

He held up his hands as if surrendering. "When she's older!"

"Maybe you can learn too." Taylor suggested.

Her glare disappeared, and she looked over towards Taylor again. "I might just do that. Then we could teach your dad how to shoot straight."

"Hey, two against one isn't fair!" He pulled Patricia down onto his lap.

"It's okay dad, we'll let you stand closer to the target."

"Oh you two are real funny."

*******

Tony showed up just as her dad and Patricia were ready to leave, complete with DVD and pizza as usual. Taylor kept her distance, watching as he slid the DVD into the machine before opening the pizza box on the coffee table and lifting a slice. He took a bite before looking at Taylor who was standing in the doorway.

"What? Don't tell me you're not hungry."

"You're not mad at me?"

He shook his head and pointed at the pizza. "You'd better hurry up, I eat fast."

That was true. Lifting a piece she sat down beside him, then stood up again, quickly.

"Oh, right. Do you want the couch?"

When she nodded, he moved over to the chair, letting her stretch out on her stomach.

Tony reached for the remote. "All set?"

Taylor gave him a thumbs up and he hit the play button.

*******

About half way through the movie Tony fell asleep. Taylor shook his arm gently to try and wake him, but he was out for the count. This was definitely an opportunity not to be wasted. Sneaking into the kitchen she searched through one of the drawers. When she returned Taylor was holding a thick black permanent marker. Tony hadn't moved. Very, very carefully she reached over and started to draw. When she was finished Taylor stood back to admire her artistic efforts, before pulling out her cell phone and photographing the end result. Both were sleeping when Patricia and Gibbs returned home. Tony in the chair, and Taylor on the couch.

Tony jumped up when Gibbs spoke.

"Were you sleeping on the job DiNozzo?"

"Course not boss, I was just resting my eyes."

Gibbs tried hard not to smile at the large pair of glasses, curly moustache, and giant freckles drawn on his face. Patricia just stared, not sure what to say.

"You sure about that?"

"I take my babysitting duties seriously, I'd never fall asleep."

"Okay, that's good to hear. No problems then?" He glanced down at his sleeping daughter.

"Nope. I had it all under control."

"Thanks Tony, We really appreciate it."

"Just being a good godfather." He pulled on his coat. "I'll see you Monday."

"Jethro you're not really going to let him drive home like that are you?" Patricia asked as soon as the door closed behind him.

"Like what? You heard him, he didn't fall asleep."

He knelt down beside Taylor and whispered into her ear. "Come on, you need to go to bed.

Standing up, she rubbed her eyes and looked around. "Where's Tony?"

"He just left." Resting his hands on her shoulders he guided her over to the bottom of the stairs. "Bed."

"Did he still have his glasses on?"

"Oh yeah!"

"You didn't tell him?"

"No, but you do realise he's gonna try and get you back?"

Taylor grinned as she climbed the stairs. "No he won't, I took his picture, don't think he'd like Tim or Ziva to see it, do you?"


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.**

**Chapter 8**

Taylor trailed after Patricia through the car park, she'd been working herself into a snit all day. It was bad enough that she'd been having to go straight home after school and do her homework, but today they were going shopping first. Taylor had tried to talk Patricia into letting her go to NCIS instead, using the excuse that she hadn't seen Tony or Abby in over a week but it hadn't worked. After her third attempt, Patricia had just told her she was going and that was that. So now Taylor was going grocery shopping, and was trying to make it perfectly clear she wasn't happy about it. Unfortunately Patricia didn't seem to be getting the message. In fact, she couldn't even get her to argue about it. Taylor had been hoping that after a few days Patricia would be fed up enough with her to give her a little freedom, at least until her dad got home, but the woman seemed to be Taylor proof. Considering she still had almost three weeks of her grounding left, that was not good. Climbing into the car she shot Patricia a quick glare before sitting back. What she needed was a plan, Taylor needed to find out just how far she could push Patricia without landing herself in too much trouble.

*******

Finding herself in control of the shopping cart provided the perfect opportunity. Waiting until Patricia was well ahead, Taylor rammed the cart as hard as she could into a display of pasta at the end of one of the aisles. The stand wobbled dangerously before tipping it's contents over the floor, bags splitting and little curly bits of dried pasta bouncing everywhere. Briefly thinking that maybe she should have started with something less extreme, Taylor tore her eyes away from the mess and watched for Patricia's reaction. She didn't look angry, just shocked as she walked back towards Taylor, stopping when she reached the sea of pasta shapes.

"What happened?"

Shrugging, Taylor avoided both lying and telling the truth. "These carts are hard to steer."

That was all the time Taylor had to explain before being asked to move aside as two store workers began to clean up the mess. Apologising to the two women as she carefully made her way through the pasta, Patricia took the cart from Taylor and pointed it in the opposite direction. This time it was Patricia who ran into something, or rather someone. The security guard grabbed the front of the cart to stop it.

"Would you mind coming with me? My boss would like a word with you."

Patricia looked down at the cart and Taylor.

"It's okay, you can bring the cart."

The pair of them followed him through the store to a door marked 'Staff Only"

Parking the cart just inside the door.

"I'll wait here." Taylor offered. This whole situation was rapidly growing out of control.

Patricia just grabbed her hand and pulled her along, after the guard and into a small room. Taylor felt her stomach drop to somewhere down at her feet. One wall was completely covered with monitors, all showing different parts of the store. The man sitting at the desk in front of them was rewinding one of them and Taylor watched in horror as little bits of pasta jumped back into their bags as the stand magically righted itself. It got worse though and Taylor saw herself reversing away quickly from the point of impact. Patricia looked down at her confused, but didn't get the chance to say anything before the man at the desk spoke.

"I take it you know exactly why you're here young lady." He looked directly at Taylor.

"I didn't think the whole thing would fall over."

Patricia turned back to Taylor. "What do you mean you didn't think the whole thing would fall over?"

Not wanting to answer she looked down at the floor.

The security man took this as his cue to answer for her. "It seems your daughter thought it would be fun to destroy one of our displays."

"But it was an accident."

"Don't think so." He hit play.

Taylor started to back up towards the door but Patricia grabbed her hand again, without taking her eyes of the screen.

"I'm really sorry, I'll pay for the damage." She pulled Taylor in front of her. "I think you owe this man an apology."

"I'm sorry."

"If it happens again you'll be barred from the store. Understand?"

Taylor nodded.

"Don't you move!" Patricia warned as she pulled out her cheque book.

Filling it out quickly she grabbed a hold of Taylor's hand again and dragged her back to where they'd left their cart. Patricia didn't let go until they'd finished their shopping and were back at the car. Neither had said a word. Pulling on her seatbelt Taylor decided to test the water.

"I didn't mean to tip it right over."

"Save it Taylor, I don't want to hear it right now."

Okay, maybe the water was still too hot. Sliding down in her seat Taylor tried to think of a decent excuse for what she'd done.

*******

As soon as the got back to the house Taylor made for the stairs, but Patricia stopped her, and pointed to a corner.

"I want you where I can see you."

Taylor stared at her in disbelief.

"You can see me here, why do I have to stand in the corner?"

"I don't want to argue about it." Grabbing her arm she swatted her once before guiding her to the corner.

Realising events were taking a nasty turn Taylor stayed put and stared at the two walls istening as Patricia unpacked the groceries.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.

**Chapter 9**

Taylor was beginning to get impatient, she wanted to be out of the corner by the time her dad got home. She risked a look over her shoulder, Patricia was standing just inside the kitchen, coffee in hand, watching her.

"Can I come out now?"

"Did I say you could?"

"No." She turned back to the corner.

She waited a few moments before trying again.

"I've still got my homework to do you know."

"It's good to see you thinking about your school work for a change.."

Taylor glanced round again, more hopeful this time.

Patricia continued. "But no, you're not going anywhere yet."

"I thought education was important."

"It is, but so is learning how to behave. Now stop trying to talk your way out of there. You're going to stay in that corner until your father gets home."

*******

They both heard the car pull into the driveway. Patricia set down her coffee, while Taylor leant her head against the cool walls.

He hung up his overcoat before walking into the living room and spotting Patricia standing just outside the kitchen area. He followed her gaze to his daughter standing silently in the corner.

He sighed. "What did you do?"

She didn't reply.

"Taylor, what did you do."

"Oh, me? I ah…killed some pasta."

"You what? Get over here."

Turning round she glared at Patricia before going over to stand in front of her father.

"What happened?"

"I just knocked over some bags of pasta."

"Tell him what happened Taylor, or I will."

Spinning round towards Patricia again she tried to stare her out. When Patricia didn't react to this she decided to up the ante. "Don't you have some markin' or something' to do?"

Taylor didn't get a chance to see Patricia's reaction. She felt herself being jerked backwards just before she found herself looking at the floor boards. Her dad swatted her twice before speaking.

"What did you do?"

Taylor tried to push herself up.

SWAT "You're not going anywhere." SWAT. "So start talking."

"I knocked a pasta stand over with the shopping cart, and the security man made Patricia pay for it."

"Was it an accident."

Taylor hesitated just a little too long.

SWAT SWAT

Ow! The last two were hard enough to make her eyes water. "Yes." Then she changed her mind before Patricia could say anything. "No……sort of."

SWAT SWAT "It's not a difficult question. Yes" SWAT "or no?" SWAT

"No."

"Why?"

"Cause I wanted to go see Tony and Abby, I hate shopping."

"You threw a tantrum like a two year old because you didn't want to be there?"

"No."

SWAT SWAT "Maybe you want to rethink that one before the word lying comes up?"

"Ow! Okay, yes."

He looked over at Patricia. "Is that everything?"

She nodded.

"Okay, up." He tapped Taylor on the butt and waited for her to stand up.

"Since you want to behave like a two year old you can go to bed early tonight, right after dinner."

"But.."

"No buts, unless you want to make it tomorrow night as well. You do your homework yet?"

Taylor shook her head.

"Go do it."

*******

Patricia sat down beside Gibbs as Taylor disappeared upstairs.

He reached out for her hand. "Sorry, I should have warned you that Taylor and grounding don't always go well together. Hell, she's even gone as far as to handcuff Abby to her desk before."

"You're kidding aren't you?"

"Wish I was. I know it can't have been easy for you today, so I'll understand if you don't want to look after her any more."

"No, it's okay, Taylor's actually pretty good most of the time, I think I'm just going to have to learn to recognise the warning signs a bit better. That and don't let her anywhere near the shopping cart again."

"Yeah, well just make sure you remember, if she comes at you with a pair of handcuffs, run."

*******

Taylor lay on her bed, page of math problems in front of her, pencil in mouth. She figured she'd gotten off pretty easy, except for the fact that she'd been spanked in front of Patricia, but at least she hadn't cried. There had been absolutely no point in trying to argue the point with her dad though, considering it was Patricia she'd embarrassed and landed in trouble. Trying to put the day's events out of her head, she looked at the first question. This was gonna take forever.

"Need some help?" Patricia was standing in the doorway.

"Isn't that cheating?"

"I offered you help, not the answers. Slide over a bit."

Taylor wriggled to the side, leaving enough room for Patricia to lie beside her.

"Show me how you worked the first one out."

Patricia listened as Taylor explained the round about way she'd come up with her answer.

"There's a much quicker way to do that, watch."

Taylor was surprised, using Patricia's method she flew through the rest of the questions.

"I think you've got the hang of that now." Patricia stood up and stretched.

Taylor grinned up at her, but then started to feel guilty. "I'm sorry I got you in trouble today."

"That's okay, you're not going to do it again are you? Because I don't think that security guard liked us very much."

"I won't."

"Your dad should be nearly finished cooking, will we go check he hasn't burnt anything?"

Taylor followed her down the stairs.

"You're letting him cook?"

"What's wrong with my cooking?" Gibbs emerged from the kitchen.

"Nothing, but Patricia's is better."

"Well that's nice, betrayed by my own daughter, and after I made your favourite."

Taylor looked at him suspiciously. "You made pizza?" The last time he'd tried that she'd nearly broken a tooth it was so hard.

He shook his head. "Nope, we're having pasta."


End file.
